The present invention relates to an object recognizing apparatus for recognizing a n object existed at a periphery of own vehicle based on a plurality of sensors for detecting the object at the periphery of the own vehicle.
The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-140755 filed on May 19, 2006 including the specification, drawings and abstract is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
In recent years, in a vehicle of an automobile or the like, there is developed a technology of recognizing an object including a three-dimensional object existed in a running direction of own vehicle by detecting an outside vehicle environment by a camera, a millimeter wave radar, a laser radar or the like, which is applied to a vehicle control of a collision avoiding control or the like.
Although according to such a technology of recognizing an object, generally, there are used recognizing sensors represented by a camera, a millimeter wave radar, a laser radar and the like, the recognizing sensors pose a problem that a dispersion is brought about in a detecting accuracy by a running environment. Therefore, recently, there is proposed a method referred to as sensor fusion of mounting a plurality of sensors of a camera, a millimeter wave radar, a laser radar and the like on a vehicle and recognizing a front object by fusing outputs detected by the respective sensors.
For example, Patent Reference 1 discloses a technology in which based on respective data detected by an image recognizing apparatus including a millimeter wave radar and a camera, probability distributions showing accuracy of the respective data are calculated, the respective data are fused by calculating a product of a plurality of the probability distributions with regard to the same data value, and a kind of a front object is investigated based on a data value showing the highest probability.
According to the technology disclosed in Patent Reference 1, even in a case in which a probability of a probability distribution calculated based on data detected by one front recognizing means is reduced, when a probability distribution calculated based on data detected by other front recognizing means shows a high probability, the kind of the front object can be recognized by using a data value of the high probability. [Patent Reference 1] JP-A-2005-165421
However, only by determining an object simply by a height of a probability distribution as disclosed in Patent Reference 1, there is a concern that by an uncertain factor of a characteristic of a sensor for detecting a periphery situation, a degree of influencing on a vehicle stabilization by a control apparatus or the like, there is brought about a situation in which an operational timing of an avoiding control, an alarming control or the like against contact (collision) of the object and own vehicle is excessively early or excessively retarded, and a pertinent control timing is not necessarily produced.